Hemmer attachment



Augy A15, 1944 G. wEsTHcn--F` HEMMER ATTACHMENT Filed sept. 5. 1941 @UW /Egm r fidi.

Patented Aug. 15, 1944 -HEMlWER ATTACHMENT `George"Westhoi, Millstadt, Ill.

` Application September 5, 1941, Serial No. 409,621

' 5Claims. (Cl. 112-7141) The presentinvention relatesgenera-lly toattachments` for sewing machines and more :particularly to a vhemmer employed withsewing machines.

i An object of the presentinventionis'to provide .A

a novel hemmer attachment for sewing machines which is adapted to make a single needle -fell seam. n

Another object is to provide a novel hemmer attachment for sewing .machines which is constructed to accept and pass to theneedle a cross seam or other thickness of cloth lwithout slowing down or jamming the movement of :the cloth.

Another object is to provide anovel hemmer attachment for sewing machines whichis adapted to speed up the production of themachines to which it is attached.

Another vobject is to provide a novel hemmer attachment for sewing-machineswhich-is .constructed to readily receive cloth threaded therein and to fold and pass the Asame tov an adjacent needle at a high speedand. without diminution thereof regardlessof folds, cross seams, or-the like.

Other objects are to provide a hemmerl attachment for sewing machines which is sturdy inconstruction, simple to apply, i and `positive in its operation.

Still other objects andl advantages are. apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying ,drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a hemmer attachment embodying the concepts of thepresentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the hemmer attachment shown in Fig. 1, a part of the support being broken away for conservation of-space;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofthe hemmer attachment looking from the left of Fig. l;

4 is a rear elevation of the hemmer attachment;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1';

6 is a front elevation ofthe hemmer attachment with the pivotal portion inspaced relationshipto the stationary portion;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged plan viewsimilar to Fig. 1 showing pieces of clothY in operative relation thereto, the hemmer attachment being' disposed adjacent the needle of a machine;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7- showing how the cloth is rolled by the hemmer attachment;

Fig. 9 is a'view of a segment .ofclotlr after leaving the needleshown` in Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line' l0-I 0 otlig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a View of the segment of iclothsshown in Fig. 9, the top portion being pulledA over-relative to the bottom portion; and

Fig. V12is a section on the line.I2--|'2 0f Eig. 11.

Referring to the drawingvmore particularly. by

reference numerals, l5 indicates generally a hemmer attachment constructed in accordance Vwith the teachings of the present invention. -The hemmer attachment i5-includes a-support i6 and amain body I1. j

The support i6 comprises an elongated-'body portion `I9 having a head portion '20 and aange li. The body portion I9 includes -a side'ange 22 and a slot 23.

The main body il includesJ an outer roll section 26 which is of the cross-section shown in Figs; 5 and 6 and which includes a trough 2'1- of narrowing cross-section from rear to front and a cloth receiving wall 28. rhe roll section 26 is secured directly to the'flange 2| by welding-or the like.

A. rear cloth guard 38 is secured to the roll-section 25 near the rear end-thereof, and a front'cloth guard Si is secured to the front end thereof. The guards 30 and 3l form. in effect, ccntinuations of the end edges of the trough 21.

A stationary hinge extension member 34 is secured by welding, orthe like; to the edge of the trough 2 between the cloth guards 39 and 3|. A hinge 35 is welded or otherwise fixed to the hinge extension 34 by a lower hinge plate 3B. An upperl hinge plate 31-has secured thereto by welding,v or thelike,4 a hinge extension 38 of the same conguration as the hinge extension 34. The hinge extensions 3L! and `38 have alined slots 40 and 4I, respectively (Figs. 3 and 5), A tension spring 42 is suspended in the slots 40 and 4I, being connected at its ends to oppositely extending project-ions d3 and 44 which are formed integral with the hinge extensions 34 and 138, respectively.

VA forming hemmer section 41 is welded or otherwise secured tothe free end of the hinge section 38 and is disposed to complement the trough 2?. Theiorming hemmer section Mis of the con- -iiguration shown inthe drawing, and includes a wall 48 -c-f inverted converging concave crosssection which forms, in effect, a continuation 'of theitrough 21 (Figs. 2 and 5). A rearwardly disposed secondary trough 45 which extends substantially half the length of the section 411s spaced from the rear portion of the trough 21 and extends outwardly therebeyond (Fig. l)

A hingefextension guard 5S is welded or otherwise secured to the hinge extension 34.

Operation In Fig. '7, the hemmer attachment .i5 is shown mounted on a machine (not shown) in cperative relation to a needle 52. Two pieces of cloth 5ta-nd 54 are in the hemmer attachment I5 and extend beyond the needle 52. It is to he observed that the cloth pieces 53 and 54 are disposed in at relationship with the free edges alined. The cloth pieces 53 and 54 thus related are fed into the hemmer attachment l5 with the free edgessubstantially touching the bottom :of the secondary trough A49. With the cloth pieces 53 and 5'4 fed in aforesaid, they emerge at the front end in the relationship shown in Fig. 8. The needle 52 passes through the cloth in such relationship to complete a fell seam.

Quite often it is necessary to seam across seamed portions or across multiple layers of cloth. Such cross seams and other increased thicknesses pass through the hemmer attachment I5 to the needle 52 without jamming and without slowing down the seaming operation. The forming hemmer section 41 yields outwardly when an increased thickness of cloth moves into the constricted portion of the attachment l5 due to the tension spring 42 and the hinge construction. Thus, with the hemmer attachment I5, the speed of the sewing machine, which may be 5,000 R. P. M., is fully maintained.

The cloth guards 30 'and 3l are disposed to prevent the cloth pieces 53 and 54 from slipping between the hinge sections 34 and 38. The hinge extension guard 5U prevents the hinge section 38 from being pivoted in a vertical plane which would result from the continued force of the cloth moving through the hemmer attachment l5.

It is to be understood that the several elements described and shown may be varied as to coniiguration and material within the scope of the invention. For example, the hinge sections 34 and 38, and the hinge 35 may be made in two pieces if desired, and the projections 43 and 44 may be secured to the hinge extensions 34 and 38 rather than formed integral therewith.

It is also to be understood that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing have been given by way of illustration and example and not for purposes of limitation, the invention being limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the kind described, a support, means for rolling cloth for seaming mounted thereon, comprising a stationary section and a pivotally mounted section, said two sections hav-l ing complementary cloth rolling surfaces, separable at adjoining edges, said pivotally mounted section being adapted to yield away from the stationary section to separate said complementary surfaces and adjoining edges upon the passage through the device of an abnormal thickness of cloth, and a member connected at each end of the stationary section extending therefrom across the ends of the pivotally mounted section, said member being of sufficient length to extend across the space between the complementary surfaces when separated, and having an inner surface to join said surfaces whereby to prevent cloth from getting between the adjoining edges of the sections.

2. A hemmer attachment comprising a support, a stationary outer hemmer section mounted on the support, a hinge section secured to the outer hemmer section, a second hinge section pivotally associated With the first hinge section, a forming hemmer section secured to the free end of the pivoted hinge section and disposed in operative relationship to the outer hemmer section, and means biasing said pivoted hinge section into closed relationship with the stationary hinge section, said biasing means including a tension spring disposed at an angle to the hinge sections and extending through openings in each section substantially centrally of the ends thereof, said spring being anchored to a projection secured to each section.

form a continuation of the edge of the outer part of the Wall of the first body portion, and curvr 3. In a hemmer for use on material of vary- 76 ing around therefrom until it extends substantially in the same direction as that of the outer part of the first body portion, and correspondingly tapered, but of smaller curvature than that of the curved surface of the first body portion, the second wall forming a second trough section, and the two together being adapted to form a cloth rolling convolute, and means yieldable to hold the two trough portions together but permitting them to separate bodily one from the other in a direction in which the bottom of one trough portion moves substantially directly outwardly from the bottom of the other, said means comprising a projection extending from each body portion, means joining the projections, said means being disposed outwardly from the adjoining edges of the two curved surfaces a substantial distance to provide the outward separating movement aforesaid of the two trough portions, and yieldable means urging the trough portions together.

4. In a hemmer for use on material of varying thickness, a first body portion comprising a wall providing a surface curved around from an outer part extending in one direction, to an inner part extending substantially in the opposite direction, to provide a rst trough section, said surface hav.. ing a larger radius of curvature at one end of the trough and tapering to a smaller radius of curvature at the other end, a second body portion comprising a wall having an edge adapted to form a continuation of the edge of the outer part of the wall of the first body portion, and curving around therefrom until it extends substantially in the same direction as that of the outer part of the first body portion, and correspondingly tapered, but of smaller curvature than that of the curved surface of the rst body portion, the second wall forming a second trough section, and the two together being adapted to form a cloth rolling convolute, and means yieldable to hold the two trough portions together but permitting them to separate bodily one from the other in a direction in which the bottom of one trough portion moves substantially directly outwardly from the bottom of the other, said means comprising a projection extending from each body portion, a hinge joining the projections, the hinge being disposed outwardly from the adjoining edges of the two curved surfaces a substantial distance to provide the outward separating movement aforesaid of the two trough portions, yieldable means urging the trough portions together, and a secondary guide wall portion on the second body portion, comprising continuation of the second curved surface around to form another trough section, said secondary guide wall being substantially wholly outside of the large end of the convolute and having its end edge within the convolute sloping toward the smallest end of the convolute in a smooth curve and joining therewith.

5. In a hemmer attachment, for use in putting hems on material, a roll portion providing an inner surface having a curve of over 180 extent to constitute means to ro11 the material, said roll portion being divided longitudinally into two elements having edges adapted to he brought together and said elements having complementary inner surface sections adapted to form said roll surface, means supporting the two elements for movement toward and from each other to accommodate material of different thicknesses, and

guide means on one element, extending therefrom to overlie the other element, said guide means being of a size to bridge between the elements when they are separated, having an inner surface to join the complementary surfaces of the roll portion, thereby to prevent escape of material between the separated edges of the roll p01'- tions.

GEORGE WESTHOFF. 

